WINCHESTER City Council has voted in favour of a motion to urge county bosses to ban smartphones in schools.

At a full council meeting on November 6, councillors voted unanimously in favour of the proposal, with many discussing their own personal experiences around their children's use of phones at school. 

Presenting the motion, Lib Dem Councillor John Tippett-Cooper spoke of an "increasing alarm and concern among parents".

He said: "This motion calls on us to urge Hampshire County Council to adopt guidance for smartphone-free schools across our county.

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The full council on November 6 (Image: Sebastian Haw) "Councillor [Kathleen] Becker and I, who bring this motion tonight, are both parents of young children. We are increasingly alarmed and concerned by the increasing body of evidence indicating that unrestricted use of smartphones in schools can negatively affect academic performance and it can have serious impacts on the mental health of young people too.”

He added: “Some statistics in this area are not just alarming – they are downright terrifying.”

Cllr Tippett-Cooper went on to cite a few of these statistics, which he said confirmed "parents' worst fears”. He referred to surveys which found that 75 per cent of UK 15-year-olds had been sent beheading videos, that teenagers with “problematic” smartphone use are three times more likely to have mental health issues and that students’ focus drops by 20 per cent if a smartphone is nearby, even if it is switched off.

The presentation was followed by a general debate on the negative impact of smartphones on the young before the council voted.

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Twenty-nine councillors were in favour of the motion, with not a single vote made against it.

One of those who agreed with the proposal was Councillor Jackie Porter, who laid a portion of the blame for kids' issues with smartphones squarely at the feet of parents.

She said: "Parents who now think of it as the norm to have their phone in their hand all the time may just change the next generation's feeling about their smartphones.

"I've watched parents at nativity plays watching the whole thing – the whole thing! – through their phone, not actually looking at the children. No wonder we have young people with mental health issues if all they're worrying about is 'does it look good for that screen?', not 'does it look good for my mum?'"